A Human Doused, A Flame Ignited

Princess Bubblegum tirelessly clicked through dozens of keys on her laptop, running down countless sheets of statistics, algorithms, and technical notes. The room was dark except for the light from her screen, she having never bothered to turn it on. In fact, she'd forgotten to do so for the last five days.

As she typed in another spreadsheet of data, she cringed and pulled back her hand, holding it delicately in the other. A layer of bandaging was covering everything but her fingers; the wrist and palm were under delicate wraps. PB felt a tear drop down into her lap as she rubbed her injured appendage.

That idiot…

…

(Six days earlier)

Finn nearly fell over backwards as a searing pain was shot into his face. He felt a fair amount of blood leak out of his nostrils, dripping to the candy floor. Recovering from the initial shock, the human looked back at the pink monarch with astonishment. PB had a pained and outraged expression on her face, along with watery eyes.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

She stepped forward and grabbed the hero's collar.

"How…how dare you!"

Shoving the young man back, the princess walked over to her work table and hung her head while slamming her hands down on the surface. Cautious, but concerned, Finn slowly made his way over to the upset ruler and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"PB, I…"

He couldn't think of what to say. Fortunately, PB continued the conversation herself.

"How could you? How could you think of casting aside your humanity?"

She turned to look at the hero, now with fresh tear trails running down her pale cheeks.

"You're the only known human. Don't you have any pride in who you are?"

Finn closed his eyes.

"Pride is not the trait of a hero."

He gazed back at the princess.

"I serve as a hero, not as a symbol. It doesn't matter what we are; human, candy person, fire elemental. We all have hearts that can choose to protect and give compassion to those around us."

The young man softened his features.

"You said you'd help me, Peebles. Has that changed?"

The princess stood there, overcome by grief and still processing the hero's words. He went on, trying everything in his mind to convince the woman.

"You've studied all you could from me, gathered every scrap of anatomy and chemistry, and being the only human, my species can't go on. There is nothing left of humanity, nothing except making myself a target."

Bubblegum's mouth was hanging open slightly, as if she were trying to think of an argument against him. But he was too quick, too determined, and too logical.

"I…"

Finn reached over and brushed away a new line of tears from the monarch's face.

"Protecting others is my responsibility. And responsibility…demands-"

"Sacrifice," the princess finished, hanging her head.

The two stood there for at least a full minute, allowing the haze of emotion and woe to pass over like a bad storm. Eventually, PB brushed off the dripping from her nose and looked up to the human.

"At the least…let me try to see if it's reversible."

Finn stared at her for a moment, then nodded.

"Thank you, Finn."

She turned away from him.

"I'll start the preparations. Make sure you'll be ready and I'll make sure I am."

The hero nodded in response and turned to leave. As PB heard the door shut behind her, she examined the hand she'd used to slug Finn in the nose. It appeared to have a minor sprain. Cursing under her breath, the monarch went over to grab a roll of bandaging to deal with the aching appendage.

…

A lighter feeling entered Peebles' heart as a new window of information appeared on her monitor. Scanning the readings gave her a shimmer of hope. She found herself letting out a small smile. Downloading the info to a separate file, she copied it multiple times and sent it to various networks and a few flash drives, making quadruple sure she wouldn't lose it. As the computer indicated all had been saved and archived, the princess sat back in her chair, letting out an exhausted breath.

She had a lead. Nothing definite, but a possibility. Still, was that enough to go on?

Finn wouldn't care. He never would. His mind was made up, and regrettably, she had to agree with his reasoning. Not only that, but he was not hers to command. If he wished to alter his life drastically, she had no right to deny it. Still, he was her friend, and that was enough to drive her to find a way to get back the human she cared so dearly for.

She stared at a vial nearby, enclosed in an explosive resistant case to give it the highest protection. Within the glass tube was a sample of Finn's blood, drawn to research and obtain a sequence to restore his humanity once his task had been accomplished.

A moment later, there was a knock on the laboratory door. PB asked them to enter and the wooden entrance creaked open. There stood Finn, lacking his bear hat and face covered in bruises and a large but shallow cut. She thought nothing of it. He'd been performing rigorous training with Rattleballs in the junkyard, making sure that the hero was ready to face whatever opponent he'd meet in the Fire Kingdom's tournament.

"Is everything ready?" the young man asked.

The candy monarch nodded.

"Yes. Also…I found a possible way of turning you back after this is all over."

Finn just nodded halfheartedly and waited for the next step. Bubblegum frowned at him, but saw that the expression had no effect.

"Alright, follow me."

She walked past the human, who tailed along, and exited the lab. The pair proceeded down the halls, which were empty and dark, seeing as it was very early in the morning. PB lead them to the entrance of the underground portion of the castle, where her more volatile and dangerous experiments were performed. Also, all her top-secret ones.

The winding stone staircase down echoed each footstep, filling the void air with sufficient noise to drown out the eeriness of it all. They went further than Finn had ever been before, sprouting a hint of curiosity in his mind. The candy walls seemed to darken, then grow rotten, then smooth and seamless. Confused as to the sudden change in quality, the hero reached out and slid his fingers over the material.

It wasn't candy.

Such a substance was apparently too weak to deal with whatever went on in these mysterious settings, testing Finn's bravery as Bubblegum kept on walking. At long last, they reached the absolute bottom of the spiraling descent, revealing a massive metal door that PB stepped up to. She placed her hand on a scanner beside it, where the device checked if it was in fact the candy ruler herself.

A retinal scanner and voice recognition program followed afterward. The last part was a password, which took the monarch literally two minutes to input. As she punched in the 'enter' key, the internal locks holding the door released their pressure, then allowed a handle to pop out of the metallic surface.

PB took hold and pulled, slowly but surely swinging the entrance open. As it did, Finn was stunned to see that the barrier between the outside and this lab was nearly a full foot thick. Once the path ahead was clear, Peebles motioned for the human to follow her into the depths of the room. The place had its own corridor, which the princess explained was for decontamination purposes.

As they walked, a scanning laser passed over them, followed by jets of bacteria killing gas that was pumped into the chamber-like walkway. Once the journey was finished, the two stood at yet another door. This one however, opened only when decontamination was complete, which was signaled by a green light and a 'ding' noise. The door slid into the ceiling, finally revealing the actual lab.

Its appearance was magnificent to say the least. All manner of technology and science was present inside, contained within towered processors and computers the size of cars. In the center of the room was a table, directly below the area's most significant device; a titanic laser hanging from the ceiling.

While Finn gazed in awe at the object, PB went over and inserted an electronic keycard into the main hub, bringing the room and all of its technological marvels to life. Humming machines flashed different colored lights, including the laser. After a few minutes of putting in data and processing codes, Bubblegum let out a breath to relax herself and turned to her friend.

"Are you ready, Finn?"

The human nodded, taking off his cloak and laying it on a shelf that stood against the back wall of the lab. He then carefully approached the table and gazed back at the princess. She looked too, with a solemn expression, as if she really didn't want to do this. She didn't, of course, but it was too late to change Finn's mind.

The young man climbed onto the platform and lay down flat on its surface, finding a comfortable position. Before beginning, Peebles went over and took one last check on the hero.

"You're sure about this?"

He nodded.

"Absolutely."

Finn suddenly recalled something and reached in under his shirt. He pulled out the sliver locket and took the chain off his neck, holding out the item to Bubblegum.

"Can you hold on to this for now?"

PB gazed in wonder at the heart-shaped object, then nodded without saying a word. Accepting the locket and placing it in her lab coat, the gummy lady walked back over to her station and flipped several switches, powering up the laser over Finn's chest. She also pressed a button to her left, activating the recording equipment.

As a light began to generate from the tip of the colossal device above him, Finn felt his body tense up, as if afraid of what was going to happen. However, his mind was not so easily swayed. The hero had faith and trust in the princess, finding no reason to leak fear into his thoughts. The laser moved down, lowering its point closer to his body.

Peebles placed her protective goggles over her eyes, carefully monitoring the process as it went. She'd placed almost a week's worth of time in calibrating the correct molecular sequencing to recombine Finn's DNA. There was no room for error or rushing. As the humming became more high-pitched, the scientist held her breath and placed her hand on a large lever beside her.

Here we go.

The second she threw down the switch, the humming was warped into a strange rattling, which in turn made the lights on the laser blink in a synchronized pattern. The light on its end grew brighter, causing Finn to turn his face away from it. As the energy continued to build up, numerous thoughts sprang through his mind.

Jake, his beloved brother, giving a jolly laugh.

BMO, doing one of its funny little dances.

Marceline, playing savory licks on her ax bass.

Ice King and Gunter, the hysterical duo, locked in some princess discussion or other.

Several more ran rampant inside his skull, waiting for the moment when the laser would begin its purpose and further his own. As the humming all but vanished, one last string of memory slid past his subconscious. A giggle. A female's giggle.

The device fired, striking the human dead center of his chest.

PB's face scrunched up as the sound of her friend's scream rang off the walls, continuing on as a crimson beam dug into his body. Finn's fingers tried their best to dig into the table, scraping off the dust and such that had gathered upon it over time. His legs twitched, fighting between the urge to roll the hero away from the beam and stay beneath it.

Bubblegum closed her eyes, not wanting to witness the pain he was experiencing any fruther. The effect lasted a while, until the device began doing its job and rewriting Finn's genetic code. His screams stopped, as his vocal cords were temporarily incapable of vibrating. He had the sense of drowning in lava, feeling an incredible heat wash over his form as if melting. The pain was still there, but seemed to be sedative rather than torturous.

Eventually, Finn's nerves went blank entirely, leaving him feeling disembodied and practically comatose. His vision blurred, his heart rate decelerated, and his breathing fell rapidly. Regardless of the exhilarating phenomenon, he remained conscious, determined to prove he could outlast any challenge. The struggle went on for what seemed like hours to him, with alternating sensations of hot and cool resonating from his chest. For the most part though, he was a vegetable, staring at the ceiling.

After pulling through the devastating wait, Princess Bubblegum threw the switch to its upward position, shutting off the laser. As the beam disengaged, and the gigantic machine began its cooling process, PB threw off her goggle and ran over to the table, hoping for the best.

Setting eyes upon Finn's form, she had to cover her mouth, disbelieving even her own actions. The young man let off a dim glow, radiating a significant amount of heat that nearly made the princess sweat. Her wide eyes drifted to the hero's face, where his now amber eyes were still locked onto the ceiling above.

She pulled out a mitt and slid it on, giving him a tentative shake.

"Finn?"

All at once, he took in a massive breath, instantly causing his skin to glow bright enough for Peebles to shield her eyes. Once the illumination had subsided, she looked back to determine the young man's condition. He had begun reacting to the surroundings, getting up on his elbows while shaking his likely aching head. PB carefully helped him get his feet over to the floor, allowing him to sit up.

As he held a hand to his temple, groaning, the candy monarch gave him a full examination, scanning every aspect with a small scanning tool from her pocket. However, both of them were distracted by a sudden burning sound. Finn and PB see their sights on the hero's right arm, shocked to see his grass sword on fire.

After a few seconds, the young man frowned, saddened that he'd lose his reliable weapon. However, something changed. The sword emitted a brief green glow, then seemed to tighten itself around Finn's arm, causing momentary discomfort. It was completely ablaze now, with no sign of surviving the combustion. Instead of being reduced to ash though, it actually extended itself, creeping up the young man's arm further until disappearing under his sleeve.

Once the flames dissipated, they revealed something that stunned the two staring at it. The verdant band covering Finn's wrist was gone, now replaced with a similar but stretched out object that was crimson in color and had razor-like spines along its edges. For the most part, its features reminded one of a rose stem.

Experimentally, Finn held up his hand, then used the same mental command he used for his sword to try to get a reaction out of the ominous plant constricting his arm and wrist. Amazingly enough, the vine spiraled down from its positioning, quickly forming an elegant katana, decorated with vibrant fire insriptions all along its blade. PB backed off as the hero practiced a few swings with the weapon, discovering it had the same extreme precision as its previous incarnation.

Bubblegum gazed with somewhat concern as Finn retracted the sword, allowing the vegetation to rewrap itself up his limb.

"Apparently the 'curse' is not so easily broken. It morphed into a lava vine."

The young man nodded.

"Yeah."

He encountered a little trouble standing up, wobbling for a moment as PB helped him gain balance. Once he stood straight and reacquired control over his tendons and muscles, he held up his hand and gazed at it in wonder. His skin was a golden yellow, shimmering as if he were a humanoid lantern.

"It worked."

Peebles backed away, letting him have some space to move around.

"Seems so."

Finn tried various movements with his new body, seeing if his agility and speed had remained the same. On the contrary, they had increased. The new form felt lighter, as if he could jump twenty feet in the air and dash at well over the limit of human beings. After the hero finished, PB walked over and pulled out his locket. Finn bowed, allowing her to place it over his neck.

He then tucked it under his now fiery shirt, which had been previously infused with bioorganic fibers that took on the neurological traits of its wearer. It had taken Bubblegum four days to figure out the technology for that, making him quite appreciative of her work. The candy monarch went over and picked up the young man's cloak, feeling its texture.

"I should probably do the same for this as I did for your clothes."

Finn nodded. The two then made their way for the exit, shutting off all the machinery as they went. Now, there was just one last thing to take care of.

The new flame being stood before his tree house, his now fireproof cloak flapping in the morning breeze. Upon first glance, it was in fact the willow that he and Jake had lived in for as long as they could remember. However, that was only a testament to how precise PB had been with the design. What stood in front of them was a replica, planted there by the gumball guardians after they'd ripped the real tree out of the ground and hid it in the mountain ranges behind the Candy Kingdom. All of this had been done under close discretion, in the middle of the night.

Princess Bubblegum walked up to Finn and placed a hand on his shoulder, protected from burning by his attire.

"Are you sure about this? Jake will be devastated."

The hero nodded solemnly.

"It'll be too suspicious if I just disappear. My absence will have to be accounted for, and there's no better way of doing that than faking a death."

Seeing there was no swaying him, Peebles sighed and backed away, not wanting to feel the extreme heat of what was about to happen. Her body would surely start melting. Finn held up his hand and aimed it at the base of the tree house. He focused, trying to build up energy in his palm. Pleasantly enough, a jet of flames was suddenly fired out, impacting the trunk of the willow and bathing it with crimson flames within seconds.

Once he was satisfied with the amount of area covered, Finn halted his blast and stared blankly at the house. He and Peebles watched the fires spread, plowing through the windows and licking at the uppermost branches. Eventually, only the darkening silhouette of the false abode was visible, the rest being coated in a raging inferno.

As the tree began to crack and collapse into itself, the two observers of its demise turned to walk away, not wishing to finish the spectacle.

"I saturated that thing with your scent. Jake will definitely think you were inside."

Finn nodded. The princess then thought of another subject.

"By the way, what will you call yourself?"

The flame human kept looking ahead as he answered.

"Fenrir."

PB raised an eyebrow.

"Where did that come from?"

Finn actually smirked.

"I found it in an old human mythology book. It's the name of a giant wolf monster."

The princess chuckled.

"Wow, you sure dug deep."

The hero chuckled back.

"Well, it helps if you have an intimidating name, especially when you're fighting people."

Peebles gazed at the smiling young man, happy to see this expression upon his face. Suddenly though, she gasped, causing Finn to frown.

"What is it?"

The monarch pulled a hand mirror from her pocket and handed it to the hero, who curiously gazed into it. He also gasped.

"What the- my eyes!"

His orbs were ocean blue, just like before his transformation. However, the coloring quickly faded back to amber. PB sighed.

"Looks like the conversion wasn't perfect. It seems that any positive emotion will cause your irises to revert back to their original pigment for a short period."

Finn handed the princess her mirror back and let out a breath.

"One more reason to be careful."

PB agreed. They were now at a crossroads; with the Candy Kingdom in one direction, and the Fire Kingdom in another.

"Well, this is goodbye for now, Finn, er, Fenrir."

The two briefly hugged, so as to not burn the candy ruler.

"Yeah. Good luck, Prubs."

"You too."

With that exchange, the two friends turned away and started walking, journeying down separate paths for what might be an extensive period of time. PB didn't tell him, but she'd glimpsed inside Finn's locket while he was undergoing his change.

What she saw brought a smile to her face, and even greater hope to her heart.

Holy cow! Another like 20 reviews? What am I doing right?

PKMN Trainer Finnpines: I was sure lots of people were. That's why it was fun to write.

nrbuer: Yep, that's exactly what I mean.

Awolfx9: I was kinda nervous about how I portrayed Finn's development. Glad to hear that it's well received.

Buskola: Indeed it has.

Mayojar77: I was actually curious if anyone guessed correctly why it has that title, way back in chap 1.

Guest: Well said friend.

Guest: He most certainly does.

Guest: I'll do it as often as I can. People clearly have an interest in it.

TheMentalAdventurer: I'll keep that answer sort of ambiguous, just to add suspense.

Guest: Hope you like your answer.

Riset36: I suppose that's fair criticism, but I'll make it work.

Brony25: I'll do my best.

Loving the story: While that's true, I'm keeping it mostly in the dark whether it's possible.

Roberto: Thanks! I'll certainly try.

Guest: Ichigo is a boss.

Fiery Crusader: I appreciate all that input, and I agree with you on the last part.

Kaiser Luigi: Yep, BIG twist.

Guest: He really is.

I am The7: He'll learn, hopefully.

Guest: That's a good name for him at this point.

Vin-the-Mazoku: Glad to hear it.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/reviews!